Action Heroine Fans discussion

Some books with female pirates: The Noble Pirates, Pirate Spirit: The Adventures of Anne Bonney, The Fiddler's Gun, The Dust of 100 Dogs, Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary "Jacky" Faber, Ship's Boy

Thanks for the links, Tara; those look interesting! (I have Bloody Jack in one of my piles of yet-to-be read books; hope I get to it before I'm old and gray --or grayer. :-) ) And welcome to our group!

Another book with a female pirate protagonist is Pirates! by Celia Rees. I haven't read it, but the library where I work has it, and it's one I've had my eye on. (And of course the heroine of The Pirate Vortex: Elizabeth Latimer, Pirate Hunter, by our own Deborah Cannon, is a pirate hunter rather than a pirate; but that book obviously has pirates in it, as well.)

I read Pirates! awhile ago. It's a good read, but it doesn't have as much action in it as you would expect for a pirate book. There's a strong romantic thread in it. I also have Bloody Jack on my shelf and I'm hoping to get to it in the next couple of weeks.

I do wish they'd make another film with a female pirate as the lead. I liked Genevieve Bujold in the 1976 film Swashbuckler with Robert Shaw, though she wasn't really a pirate. But Geena Davis in the 1995 Cutthroat Island was a huge disappointment. In fact, it's listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the biggest box office flop of all time. Of Course, Pirates of the Caribbean wouldn't be the same without Keira knightley. Those movies were what inspired me to write The Pirate Vortex. And those women! :)

The recent Legacy of the King's Pirates trilogy by M. L. Tyndall, judging from reviews I've read, is set in the heydey of piracy, and features some strong female characters --though I'm not sure if any of them are pirates, or function in action-oriented roles, themselves. We have the books at the library where I work, and the first one is on my to-read list. "So many books, so little time!"

The title 'Pirate Chicks' caught my eye. I don't know how you guys feel about romance in your action books but there is one historical romance I read that had an exceptional pirate chick in charge. It was The Iron Rose. It is definitely a historical romance and I enjoyed that aspect but best of all was the female protagonist. Also, Marsha Canham gave some pretty good history on privateers and some things I didn't' know about using cannons (like I'm going to need to sink a ship in this lifetime LOL).

This author had kind of disappeared into obscurity but recently is making a comeback by electronic publishing and she is putting out her backlist in ebooks.

Laura, I've added The Iron Rose to our "read" shelf. One more book I'd like to read! I need to take about a year to read nothing but action heroine books to catch up on all the great ones I've missed so far. (Of course, I'd need to do the same for a whole bunch of other genres I also like....)

There's probably about as many different individual tastes in action books in this group as there are members, so we're pretty eclectic. :-) Personally, I'm not usually a fan of the "romance" genre as such (though I've liked a couple of those books, that happened to have action heroines), but I enjoy seeing fictional characters that I like find a spouse that's worthy of them, and I'll readily root for love to triumph over obstacles. IMO, those kinds of feelings are probably just as characteristic of guy readers as they are of women --we just have a bit different stylistic tastes in how it's described and handled.

Just now, in one of my other groups, I ran across a link to another book with a pirate lassie for a heroine: Dread Pirate Fleur and the Ruby Heart by Sara Starbuck, which I've just added to our to-read shelf. There's also a sequel, Dread Pirate Fleur and the Hangman's Noose. I'd have to say that those look interesting!

Hey, those look great. I will have to check them out. I am rather fond of swashbuckling females ....its such a departure from the norm.

Laura, if you read these, I'll be interested in your review!

Chicks Ahoy!

Marc, that cover does have a quintessential female pirate pictured on it. But I have to throw in a caveat: I'm not sure this omnibus volume actually has many pirate stories (maybe one or two, to justify the cover). The only one of the three books included here that I've read is the first one, Chicks in Chainmail; I really liked it, and think most members of our group would too, but it doesn't have any stories about pirates.

Werner wrote: "Marc, that cover does have a quintessential female pirate pictured on it. But I have to throw in a caveat: I'm not sure this omnibus volume actually has many pirate stories (maybe one or two, to j..."

Yeah, not sure why they called it that.

A Goodreads giveaway I recently entered reminded me of a story I've read that sort of fits with this thread, even though the female character isn't a pirate --more of an anti-pirate!-- and not really exactly an action heroine, though made of the same stuff. Unfortunately, though, I read it as a kid back in (probably) the early 60s, in a magazine, most likely The Saturday Evening Post, and have no idea now of the title or author. (Back then, I didn't keep track of such things. :-( )

Anyway, it was set during the War of 1812, and the handsome and dashing hero was an American privateer (i.e., legalized pirate). Having captured a British merchant ship, he was surprised to be told that the captain/owner (widow of the previous one) was a woman. When he entered her cabin to demand the keys to the cargo hold, he found her seated at her desk with a (cocked) flintlock pistol in her hand, pointed squarely into a barrel of gunpowder. She let him know if he tried to take the keys forcibly, she'd pull the trigger, blowing up her, him, and the whole ship; and he knew she wasn't bluffing. So they had a standoff; he couldn't have the keys, but she couldn't force him to release her ship, either. They had to negotiate over a period of time --I forget how long, but long enough to get to know each other, and have a sense of where the other one was coming from. In the end, they decided to resolve their impasse by getting married to each other. That solution probably wouldn't have worked for every confrontation between a privateer and a merchant captain; but they were pretty pleased with it! :-)

If anybody knows the title/author of this story, or runs into it in the future, please post it here! That's one that I'd be delighted to finally track down.

The first novel of our own Deborah Cannon's Elizabeth Latimer, Pirate Hunter series, The Pirate Vortex, was mentioned early on this thread. I've finally read it, and definitely liked it overall. IMO, it would be enjoyable to most folks who like pirate-themed reads, especially with a distaff protagonist.

Laura (Kyahgirl) wrote: "The title 'Pirate Chicks' caught my eye. I don't know how you guys feel about romance in your action books but there is one historical romance I read that had an exceptional pirate chick in charge..."

She's a very good writer. Her books are intense and violent, with excellent action sequences. I wish she was still writing.

Celia Rees' YA novel Pirates! was mentioned in messages 3 and four on this thread. Deborah Cannon (who's an author of pirate-themed fiction herself) wrote: "It's a good read, but it doesn't have as much action in it as you would expect for a pirate book. There's a strong romantic thread in it."

I've finally read it myself, and concur that it's a good read. (My five-star review is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... .) For me, a romantic element in a novel or story is a plus, as long as it doesn't elbow out every other aspect of the plot; I felt that the balance was right in this case. As for the action component, for those who are familiar with the scale used for book reviews on the Girls With Guns website, I'd rate the "kick-butt quotient" here at two stars (out of five). Whether that meets expectations depends on the expectations, of course! :-)